MESS Report / Without self-criticism, the IDF is doomed
If some weekend newspapers are an indication, the IDF Spokesman's Office and its commander have managed to make 'Operation Sky Winds' appear to be one of the most impressive operations in the history of the IDF.
By Amos Harel Tags: Israel news IDF Gaza flotilla Benjamin NetanyahuDespite criticism of Israel's PR efforts after the flotilla affair, if some weekend newspapers are an indication, the IDF Spokesman's Office and its commander have managed to make "Operation Sky Winds" appear to be one of the most impressive operations in the history of the Israel Defense Forces.
While the Netanyahu government is now poised to ease the blockade it swore was essential, and senior army officers face an international commission of inquiry, Israeli newspapers are hailing the soldiers as heroes who "fought like lions."
The Navy Seals, as Haaretz wrote the day after the operation, acted courageously and with relative restraint under conditions for which they had been insufficiently prepared. Plenty of people are happy to hide behind the soldiers' broad backs, among them the prime minister, the defense minister and the seven senior cabinet members who decided on the operation.
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Naval commandos who participated in this weeks raid on the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara. |
| Photo by: IDF Spokesman's Office |
The press has been quick to absolve the command level of responsibility: the chief of staff, the navy commander and the commander of the Seals unit, Shayetet 13. The part played by the army is not inconsequential: Because of the failure of the operation, Israel is now in the throes of an international crisis.
On Friday afternoon, the staff of the army Spokesman's Office was attending a family celebration of a former senior officer in the unit. Morale was high after a rough few days. The unit's members spoke of how in March 2009 it had rescued Adm. Eliezer Marom and the entire army from a horrific imbroglio after Marom was caught at a strip club. Following a media blitz by the IDF, the press found other things to dwell on, and the admiral remained at his post.
Last week, this miracle, as people in the unit called it, repeated. The public is busy supporting Shayetet 13. Questions like why the army did not warn of complications, what is the chief of staff's position on the siege and why the commanders were so ill-prepared are apparently not very interesting.
The people who approved the operation, from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu down to the IDF officers, are entitled to their version of the truth and to their defense. I interviewed some of them last week, and I must say I have not encountered such a questionable perception of events and their implications since the meetings with division commanders after the Second Lebanon War. The brilliant and devoted commander of the Shayetet and the navy chief are praiseworthy. But to call the operation "almost perfect" is not truthful.
Over the past few days I have spoken with a number of officers in the reserves and the career army. Their consensus is high praise for the fighters and harsh criticism for the way the operation was conducted. The army and the Shayetet know that planning was faulty, that intelligence missed important details (there are signs of a shake-up at Military Intelligence ).
If the IDF whitewashes the conclusions of investigations for fear of admitting mistakes, the only person who might be punished for the current operation is Col. Eliezer Toledano, a paratroop officer completely unconnected to the flotilla. Friday, as a result of the flotilla fiasco, Norway's government withdrew its invitation to him to a conference; he was going to speak on his experiences in the Second Lebanon War.
We have no expectations from Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, as we had none from Ehud Olmert and Amir Peretz. But things are supposed to be different in the army. If we pat ourselves on the back after every failure, how will we avoid the next one? Not only more flotillas await, but also the Iranian nuclear program and the threat of war with Hezbollah, as Ashkenazi and his generals know.
If we do not scrutinize errors, that will be bad for the army in the long run. Army Spokesman Avi Benayahu is very talented. To his commanders, he is worth his weight in gold. Yet one cannot help but have some heretical thoughts. How fateful that in 2005, Dan Halutz made the mistake of appointing Miri ("Go to Gaza" ) Regev army spokesman instead of Benayahu. While in retrospect Halutz called Regev's appointment a strategic error, had he appointed Benayahu instead, the latter may have been able to persuade the Israeli public that the Second Lebanon War was a success.
In such a case, we would have had Halutz for three more years as chief of staff, in which case some of the corrections Ashkenzi made would not have been implemented.
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With the exception of secular, left-liberal Jews, I have heard very little (to none) Jewish self- criticism, since I started following this conflict many years ago. For most mainstream and right-wing Jews it almost seems to be "the mother of all taboos"....
The news was not that the Israeli military will defend itself using lethal force...that everyone knew. The news was that the Palestinians had renounced violence and were now engaged in nonviolent protest. The videos with the iron bars hacked that thought to pieces, and now Israel is again seen as without a faithful partner for peace. Everyone in the world knows it's suicidal to go up to an armed commando squad and try to beat them with iron bars. All Israel needed was the video, and none of this was botched. The pro-Palestinians fell into the trap.
... is that Israel is such a heavily militarized nation, that there are not adequate checks and balances upon the IDF. This is why internal inquiries into things are not acceptable to the international community; nobody believes the inquiries are anything more than rubber stamping. I understand the necessity for Israel to defend itself, and honestly don't think IDF is any more brutal than any other army on the planet. But IDF can act with impunity, which is what makes them so dangerous.
It is not the IDF fault. It was said that they "fought like lions." Yes fighting civilians does make one proud. The true IDF proud elite special core WILL REFUSE TO TAKE PART IN THE INTIMIDATION AND EASY SLAUGHTER OF THE PALESTINIANS ESPECIALLY IN GAZA. I have read documents by many men in the IDF that said they will go to war and fight a REAL war against real soldiers. Those men of the IDF I am proud of. Real soldiers fighting against real soldiers, equally armed . I do not mean the absurd ROCKS vs a TANK, that usually ends up with a dead 12 year old kid at the hands of some Israeli soldier that does not meet the standards and professionalism of the REAL soldiers of the IDF. The entire world knows about the Israeli soldiers that are in Israel that are part of the occupation,...I'm not sure they are the real IDF ,...are they. I don't believe it. There must be two types of soldiers in the Israeli army,...the real soldiers of the IDF (strong and proud) and the other soldiers that are stationed in the occupation (weak and embarrassed) pushing little kids and old ladies around.
It don't fight, but kills to eat! And, please, don't use the king of animal image to represent a bunch of killers! I wanna see these "heroes" fighting with men armed just like they were. IOF lives in a fairytale battelfield world. Pathetic...
In the rest of the world that is cowardice of the lowest order. Honest to goodness you Israeli jews do whine and whine don't you? Why don't you just join the real world instead of this paranoic ranting.
Until the behave as a civilised nation that wishes to be part of the region and stops their brutality and occupation. Get out of the West Bank, get out of East Jerusalem and lift the seige of Gaza. The nations of the world now all see you as the brutes you are. If you and your military carry on with your current path of arrogance and aggression, you will be excluded from the nations of the civilised world. You have lost all respect and you have no moral credibility. You behave as brutes then you will be treated lie brutes.
IF you had two Israeli's you had three opinions. Now, if you have three Israeli's only one opinion is allowed. Back in the first quarter century of Israel EVERY action by the IDF was intensely dissected, discussed and debated. Now any assertion by the IDF is accepted as gospel without any analysis. There has been an immense change associated with this change in behavior. Forty years ago Israel' won wars and had the world's respect. Now Israel loses wars and is held in contempt by the world. Are these changes related. Yes. The reasons that The Second Lebanon War and Cast Lead were strategic disasters were EXACTLY the same. Both were caused by politicians launching wars of choice for political advantage with plans to limit casualties (necessary for political effect intended) which meant that the war failed to harm the enemy and actually benefited that enemy. In both cases the 'strategy' of the war was to savage the civilians in the idiotic belief that the civilians would take their anger out upon Hisbollah or Hamas respectively. In both cases all Israel achieved was making Hisbollah and Hamas stronger, while alienating moderates and the world. If Israel continues to harm itself more than it's enemies in the mistaken belief that punishing civilians while avoiding the casualties necessary to punish the enemy, then ONLY Israel will lose. It is very easy to destroy civilian infrastructure and blow up homes. It is also counter-productive.